VMware vSphere 5.5 Advanced Administration

Course No. N/A

This popular four-day class is an intensive introduction to the advanced features of VMware vSphere 5.5. We assume participants have working knowledge of VMware vSphere 4.x or vSphere 5.x, and webuild on that knowledge through a rapid review of common features followed by in-depth presentations of advanced topics including vSphere 5 performance, availability, scalability and security. More than 40 percent of class time is devoted to labs so concepts, skills and best practices are developed and reinforced.

This class is unique in its approach; which is to identify and eliminate common IT pain points and then to use virtualization to deliver clear, tangible benefits. Each topic is presented from the perspective of delivering key business value; not just the technical or mechanical aspects of the software.

By the end of the class, attendees will have learned the benefits, skills, and best practices of virtualization. Attendees will be able to effectively design, implement, scale, secure, back up, recover, upgrade, manage and troubleshoot VMware vSphere 5.5 environments.

Audience: This class is suitable for anyone who want to learn how to extract the maximum benefit from their investment in Virtual Infrastructure

Course Duration: 4 days

Prerequisites:

Attendees should be familiar with VMware vSphere 4.x or 5.x. Experience installing, configuring and managing operating systems, storage systems and or networks is useful but not required. We assume that all attendees have a basic familiarity with PC server hardware, disk partitioning, IP addressing, O/S installation, networking, etc.

Course Outline:

Virtualization Overview

Virtualization explained

How VMware virtualization compares to traditional PC deployments

How virtualization effectively addresses common IT issues

VMware vSphere software products

Desktop Virtualization overview, tricks and traps

Virtual Desktop strategy using Windows Server 2008 as a desktop

Understanding VMware’s licensing options. Save money and buy only what you need

Install, Configure ESXi 5.1

Selecting, validating and preparing your server

Software installation and best practices

Joining ESXi to an Active Directory Domain

Install ESXi 5.1 so we can perform an upgrade to 5.5

Understand and configure vSphere Standard Switches

Connecting to and using NFS file shares

Virtual Hardware and Virtual Machines

VM virtual hardware, options and limits

Creating and sizing VMs

Assigning, modifying and removing Virtual Hardware including hotplug

Working with a VM’s BIOS

Installing and customizing an OS for best performance

Virtual hardware versions and capabilities

vCenter Server Appliance

vCenter Virtual Appliance feature overview and components

Installing and post-install configuration

vCenter components; Single Sign On, Inventory Service and vCenter

Sizing vCenter Appliance

Database options and limitations

Web Client vs. vSphere Client. How and when to use each client

Upgrading vCenter, ESXi and Virtual Machines

How to upgrade the vCenter Appliance from vCenter Appliance from version 5.0/5.1 to version 5.5